Best Syndication - Scientific Discovery

(Best Syndication News) - A recent animal study suggests that cosmic radiation could speed up the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in astronauts traveling on deep space missions. The scientists published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

Senior study author, M. Kerry O’Banion, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, explained the cancer health risk factor due to radiation exposure in space has already been acknowledged. However, their researchers wanted to see if there was a risk for developing cognitive problems from the radiation exposure, which could lead to an accelerated onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Earth’s magnetic field provides protection from much of the radiation, but when astronauts travel into space they exposed to a variety of radioactive particles.

(Best Syndication News) - It will not be happening anytime soon, but scientists believe that groundwater and streams are dissolving mineral material from within the mountains of Hawaii eventually causing the landmass to flatten. Surface erosion will not be the largest contributor to flattening these mountains and scientists believe this process will take more than 1.5 million years just to start.

Before the terrain flattens, the mountains of Oahu will continue to rise in elevation as the island is pushed to the northwest. The mountains should continue to rise for 1.5 million years, explained scientists from the Brigham Young University.

(Best Syndication News) – The Space Telescope Science Institute released two free eBooks which discuss the NASA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA James Webb Space Telescope. The free eBooks can be read with an Apple iPad or through the free iBooks app. There is also a downloadable PDF version available for those people who are not set up with a reader.

The new eBooks are written at a high-school reading level and give a thorough explanation of the telescope’s functions and the images that were captured along the way. Scientific minded individuals will be fascinated to learn more about the history of telescopes and of the deep-space discoveries. The photos captured by the telescopes are astounding and beautiful to look at from an artistic perspective.

(Best Syndication News) - The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) has the potential of melting at a faster pace because the temperature increased twice as much as expected. The average annual temperatures recorded at the Byrd Station increased 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit compared to 1958. The research findings were published in the online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.

This temperature increase is three times faster than the average temperature rise around the world. David Bromwich, professor of geography at Ohio State University and senior research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center, noticed the warming trends were occurring during the summer months – December through February – and the temperature increase is almost double what previous research had suggested.

(Best Syndication News) - For years, the doomsday soothsayers have been forewarning of a doomsday scenario for December 21, 2012. NASA has received so many inquiries about this doomsday event that they have presented several discussions disputing the end of the world. NASA is so certain the end is not coming that they have created several videos debunking the doomsday predictions.

NASA says people are contacting them with various scenarios. One reason the agency has been contacted involves the idea that ancient Sumarians talked about a planet called Nibiru (or Planet X) that will enter into Earth's orbit. This Planet X could supposedly change the way the Earth spins; some people think that Noah's flood was caused by Nibiru. The Nibiru prediction failed the first time in May 2003, and then the prediction was moved to December 2012. NASA said that no such planet has been spotted heading our way.

(Best Syndication News) - Scientists from The City College of New York and Rice University used purpurin, a dye extracted from the rose madder root, to power an environmentally friendly battery. The goal is to develop a non-toxic and sustainable lithium-ion battery. On December 11, 2012, the researchers reported their results in Nature's online and open access publication, Scientific Reports.

The madder plant roots have been used as a natural fabric dye for over 3,500 years in Asia and in the Middle East. The plant dye was used to color fabrics a bright orange, red, and pink.

(Best Syndication News) - All the Chevrolet Volt cars on the road have been driven over 100 million electric-powered miles, according to the General Motors Company (NYSE:GM). The cars can use both electricity and gas, but Volt owners use electricity to power their vehicles in over 65 percent of their trips. The on-board gas-powered generator is used for the longer road trips.

The Chevrolet Volt cars started becoming available on the market in December 2010. In this short time, General Motors estimates that around 5 million gallons of gas have been saved by using electricity to power these cars. Additionally, around $1,370 is saved in fuel expenditures per year for each Chevrolet Volt owner.

(Best Syndication News) - Scientists have created a climate model to determine whether there will be an increased amount of wildfires across the United States in the coming years. The climate model calculates the expected number of fires through 2050 using NASA satellite data along with climate models to determine the drier conditions nationwide.

Information was presented today by Doug Morton, from the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

The findings were based on current trends in wildfires and predicted greenhouse gas emissions in the years to come. Morton explained that the model suggests an increased fire risk nationwide by 2050.

(Best Syndication News) - NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) announced today that they have been cleared to move forward to build over 200 electric vehicle charging stations throughout California. The charging stations will be located in the urban areas of San Francisco Bay, the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin, and San Diego County.

The company said that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the agreement between the California Public Utilities Commission and NRG. The charging stations, dubbed eVgo Freedoms, can now move forward. NRG hopes to open their first eVgo locations in early 2013.

(Best Syndication News) - Researchers found that the soil’s microbial communities can aid plant growth even more so during drought conditions. The roots work together differently with the soil microbes to accommodate for a lack of water. Daniele Daffonchio and colleagues from the University of Milan, Italy, published their findings in the October 31, 2012 open access journal PLOS One.

The symbiotic relationship between plants and soil microbial communities are important for growth. The researchers wanted to find out what happens to the bacteria and plant roots when there is a lack of water.

(Best Syndication News) – SpaceX completed their initial mission contracted by NASA with the first commercial cargo delivery flight to the space station. The SpaceX Dragon successfully splash-landed a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, October 28, 2012.

On October 7, 2012 the SpaceX Dragon was sent to the International Space Station to deliver goods as well as to take items back to Earth. Now that the Dragon capsule has successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean, it will be moved by boat to a port near Los Angeles. Some items will be delivered to NASA while the space craft is in Los Angeles, before the capsule returns to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas. Once there, the remaining contents of the capsule will be unloaded.

(Best Syndication News) - The size of the ozone hole was the second smallest it has been in the last 20 years. Satellite data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates the Antarctic ozone hole was approximately 8.2 million square miles on September 22, 2012. The average size of the hole in 2012 was 6.9 million square miles.

Comparatively, the largest recording of the ozone hole was on September 6, 2000, when it measured 11.5 million square miles. Scientists believe that the ozone hole is shrinking because of warmer temperatures in the area.

(Best Syndication News) - The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has been successfully launched today carrying-out a cargo mission for NASA and SpaceX. This is the first flight using SpaceX as a commercial service to deliver items to and from the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA.

Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is based out of Hawthorne, California. SpaceX’s launch of Dragon is the first Commercial Resupply Services mission, or CRS-1, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Dragon capsule was launched from a Falcon 9 rocket at 8:35 pm EDT on Sunday, October 7, 2012. The rocket had nine engines that lit the sky as it took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There were no problems at lift-off.

(Best Syndication News) - The NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour will be arriving in Los Angeles this week. There was an announcement made today rescheduling the flight day to carry the Endeavor to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The flight was rescheduled for Wednesday, September 19 from September 18, due to an undesirable weather forecast along the way. The 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) will carry the Endeavor on top of it and it should arrive in Los Angeles on Friday, September 21, 2012.

The decision to reschedule was made by NASA and the California Science Center. The flight path between Houston, Texas and Florida has been unfavorable this week.

(Best Syndication News) - Researchers from the Stanford University School of Engineering and the University of Delaware developed a wind model to determine if there is enough wind to power the world’s electricity needs in 2030.

The study results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and Cristina Archer, an associate professor of geography and physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.

The study involved a three-dimensional atmosphere-ocean-land computer model known as GATOR-GCMOM. Jacobson and Archer adapted this computer model to compute the maximum wind power potential worldwide. In this calculation they took into account the wind reduction caused by the turbines. The turbine model assumed that they could be installed at any location without any limitations set.

(Best Syndication News) - The first ever song was sent from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to Mars and back again to Earth earlier today. There were 53 high school students from the i.am College Track Center, VIP guests, NASA and JPL officials, and Curiosity mission members present when the Will.i.am’s song “Reach for the Stars (Mars Edition)” was sent and received. The special event also paid tribute to the recent passing of legendary Astronaut Neil Armstrong, who made history by being the first man to walk on the Moon.

A video message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was played. He suggested students study science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). "Mars has always fascinated us, and the things Curiosity tells us about it will help us learn about whether or not life was possible there," Bolden said. "And what future human explorers can expect. will.i.am has provided the first song on our playlist of Mars exploration."

(Best Syndication News) - Between August 10 through August 13, NASA will be giving Mars rover Curiosity a “brain transplant” via a new software program. The new programming will include the code used for the next phase of the mission.

The software was sent to the rover’s memory while it was being transported from Earth to Mars. Now that the rover has landed on Mars, the new software will aid in surface operations.

(Best Syndication News) - A new Verizon FiOS TV app is now available for compatible Samsung Smart TV sets and Smart Blu-ray players. The FiOS app is found on the Samsung Smart Hub platform and will let subscribers of Verizon FIOS TV and FiOS Internet watch 26 live broadcast TV channels and over 20,000 FlexView on-demand movies and TV shows.

The new app does not require an additional set-top box. The supported Samsung TV sets and Blu-ray players will stream the content for watching.

(Best Syndication News) - After traveling through space since November 26, 2011, the Mars rover named Curiosity is scheduled to land on the surface of the planet tonight. The landing is planned for the early morning hours of August 6, 2012 at 1:31 a.m. EDT (August 5 at 10:31 p.m. Pacific Time).

NASA will be covering the event in a big way. Special coverage from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be broadcast on the Toshiba Vision screen in New York City’s Times Square. They will begin the coverage at 11:30 p.m. EDT on August 5 and continue it through 4 a.m. EDT the next day. The audio coverage will be broadcast on the Third Rock Radio station.

NASA announced on Friday that they have reached agreements with three commercial companies -- Sierra Nevada Corporation, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and The Boeing Company to help develop the next generation spacecraft. Over the next five years, these companies will help to design and build the new spacecraft for launching astronauts, government, and other commercial customers into space.

The agreements were signed under the Space Act Agreements through NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap). The initiative is in anticipation that the investments in commercial companies would eventually become a commercial human spaceflight service that would be able to be used by both government and commercial customers.